Bangor Protesters Could Face Stiffer Charges

Three of five protesters arrested Monday after breaking into the Bangor submarine base to protest nuclear weapons stored there spoke Tuesday with Kitsap Sun reporter Ed Friedrich. This is a portion of the interview.

The protesters who cut through Bangor's security fences on Nov. 3 to reach a nuclear weapons storage site were scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Wednesday. But the U.S. Attorney's Office dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning they can be re-filed.

The dismissal letter stated that while the misdemeanor charges of trespassing and destruction of government property were being dropped, authorities are working to determine if more-serious felony charges can be filed.

Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said authorities want to make sure they get the charges right.

"We are evaluating the statutes that are available and the criminal activities that occurred," she said. "We'll then make a decision on which charges are appropriate."

Langlie wouldn't speculate on potential felony charges. She also wouldn't say whether it is possible the protesters won't be charged at all.

She said there's no deadline to make a decision, but it's in everybody's best interests to move quickly.

The activists include Bill Bischel, 81, a Catholic priest from Tacoma; Anne Montgomery, 83, a nun from New York; Susan Crane, 65, of Baltimore; Lynne Greenwald, 60, of Bremerton; and Steve Kelly, 60, of Oakland, Calif.

They used bolt cutters to cut through the submarine base's outside fence, then wandered along the sides of roads for hours until reaching their destination — the weapons storage bunkers — where they cut through two more fences. That set off an alarm, and Marines arrested them. They were in an area where deadly force is authorized, but they weren't hurt.

Greenwald said the activists were trying to bring attention to their belief that Bangor contains the nation's largest nuclear weapons stockpile — warheads for Trident submarines' D-5 missiles. The base is home to eight ballistic missile subs. Each can carry 24 missiles, and each missile can hold up to eight nuclear warheads.

Greenwald said she hasn't heard anything about her case except for the one-sentence dismissal with its three-sentence cover letter.

The Nov. 3 incident was the first time anybody had entered the base by cutting through the fence, but many have crossed the blue line at the gate onto federal property and been arrested. It has happened to Greenwald three times. Her trial for the third arrest is March 3.

Greenwald continues to participate in weekly vigils at the gate with activists from Disarm Now Plowshares and Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action. A Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance is planned there on Jan. 16, she said.